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The Abandoned
' |image= |series= |production= 40513-452 |producer(s)= |story= |script=D. Thomas Maio and Steve Warnek |director=Avery Brooks |imdbref=tt0708611 |guests=Bumper Robinson as Jem'Haddar, Jill Sayre as Mardah, Leslie Bevis as Boslic captain |previous_production=Second Skin |next_production=Civil Defense |episode=DS9 S03E06 |airdate= 31 October 1994 |previous_release=Second Skin |next_release=Civil Defense |story_date(s)=Unknown (2371) |previous_story=Equilibrium |next_story=Second Skin }} =Summary= When Quark finds a baby among some salvage he's purchased, Bashir's preliminary exam reveals a very high metabolic rate, but everything else seems normal. By the next day, however, the baby has grown to the size of an eight- or nine-year-old humanoid and shortly afterward matures to a man. He is a Jem'Haddar—the product of very advanced genetic engineering by the Founders of the Dominion. He is strong, quick, intelligent, and resourceful, totally focused on fighting and killing. He is also genetically addicted to a very specific enzyme. Apparently the Founders did this to ensure the loyalty of the appears to be a last Ihe of defense. The Founders have also in-printed Jem'Haddar a deference for Changelings. Only Odo can control him. Feeling responsible for what the Founders have done to the Jem'Haddar, Odo tries to encourage the Jem'Haddar soldier to become more than his programming. It doesn't work. The young man is only interested in returning to his people, certain that everyone else is his enemy and should be killed. Though Starfleet wants the Jem'Haddar soldier for study, Sisko lets Odo take him home to the Gamma Quadrant. =Errors and Explanations= Plot Oversights # Toward the end of the episode, Sisko tells Odo that a starship will soon arrive for the Jem'Haddar soldier. At this point the young man comes flashing into Sisko's office in a blur, apparently invisible until he slows down. The creators probably will answer this question in the future, but I wonder: Is this ability physically inherent, or does the pump have something to do with it? ' SPOILER ALERT! Based on dialogue from Rocks and Shoals, it is probably a combination of the two, as the Ketracel deprived warriors in the latter episode reported that they were no longer able to ‘shroud’ (cloak) themselves.' # Leaving Sisko's office, the young Jem'Haddar takes Odo with him, suggesting that both of them return to the Gamma Quadrant, where they belong. Odo goes willingly and tries to convince the young man one last time to rise above his genetic programming. He even offers to flee with the Jem'Haddar into unexplored space to give him the chance to be something other than a killer. During this discussion, Sisko and a Security team materialize near an airlock. Sisko tells his team to wait for his command to fire. Why? Isn't this the reason phasers have a stun setting? Shouldn't "shoot first and ask questions later" be the policy when dealing with a dangerous individual like this? The young Jem'Haddar may be able to resist the effects of a stun beam. # Eventually Sisko lets Odo leave with the young man. Sisko agrees with Odo that if the Jem'Haddar soldier boards the starship that's coming to get him, the young man will either kill a lot of innocent people or be killed himself. Doesn't the transporter work on this guy? Why can't you just beam him into confinement? And what about drugs? Any of those could make the problem worse. # During a log entry—heard at the end of this episode with the ever-illuminating star date "supplemental"— Sisko says that Starfleet has expressed "disappointment" over the missed opportunity to learn more about the Jem'Haddar. Disappointment?! I would imagine Admiral Nechayev had a wee bit stronger response than mere disappointment. The Jem'Haddar must be on the "A" list of potential threats to the Federation. The possibility of learning more about this threat was invaluable. (No doubt Sisko is being a bit euphemistic in his language.) Sisko and his people did managed to learn important information about the Jem'Haddar – 1) The fast growth rate. 2) The natural devotion to the Founders. 3) Composition of the enzyme they need to survive. Continuity And Production Problems # If the closed captioning is to be believed, Marta changed the spelling of her name since the previous season. In Sanctuary and Playing God her name was spelled, "Mardah." (Of course, Marta might be a completely different Dabo girl from the Mardah mentioned in the second season. But...two Dabo girls in as many years?! As O'Brien mutters to himself during this episode, "God- speed, Jake.") Many names have multiple spellings. Nit Central # Kate Grosmaire on Sunday, January 17, 1999 - 6:32 pm: When determining what the appropriate amount of medication would be for the young Jem Hadar, Dr. Bashir starts him at 2 milligrams per minute, which he "ups" to 3 cc's per minute. The two measurements are not equal. One (mgs) is a weight measurement and the other (cc) is volume. Considering 30cc = 1 ounce, our young JH would be receiving 2 oz an hour. That little tube looks like it would only last two hours at the most. Jeff Muscato on Monday, January 31, 2005 - 9:53 pm: It's a bit more complex than that, although Bashir was obviously acting oddly with his changed measurements. ccs or milliliters are used to measure diluted medicine -- the actual volume of the liquid in which the drug is carried. Milligrams (or any weight) is used to measure the amount of the active drug, regardless of the dilution or the amount of liquid the drug is in. Thus, you can only specify ccs when you know for certain the concentration. # Keith Alan Morgan on Friday, May 07, 1999 - 6:53 am: The white injection device seems to use two white containers, instead of the one container that adult Jem'Hadar use. ' This may be done to ensure the warrior reaches ‘adulthood’ as soon as possible.' # Earlier it was said that the boy was to be sent to Starbase 201, but couldn't the scientists travel to DS9? ' That could increase the risk of him escaping back to the Gamma Quadrant.' # Why hasn't Starfleet bothered to build a Starbase out here? Considering that they have more than 500 starbases, they don't sound like they are that hard to build. However, Starfleet insists on using this old, rundown, second-hand piece of Cardassian junk rather than replacing it with a state of the art Starfleet space station. Is Starfleet somehow afraid that this will insult the Bajorans? ("Look, it's not that we don't want to use your valuable war trophy, but it would be too much trouble to teach Starfleet officers to read Cardassian.") I don't know about you, but if I were creating Deep Space stations, I would want to be certain that they are tough, strong and capable of defending themselves, rather than taking the Hermit Crab approach of using someone else's station. At least it has the advantage of already being operational! # Anonymous on Thursday, June 01, 2000 - 7:59 am: When Odo is with Young JH in the Holo Suite, he tells JH to think about what might interest him other than violence. JH says there is nothing else. What about...how shall I say this...well, sex? Wouldn't that have used up a bit of testosterone? Sidetracked the lad a bit? Why not trying to replicate a female JH? Mark Stanley on Friday, June 02, 2000 - 12:42 am: "The Jem'Hadar don't eat, don't drink, and they don't have sex…" Quark, lamenting the Dominion takeover of the station, and its effect on his profit margins. (This, of course, contradicts the young Jem'Hadar's statement in this episode: "I need food." Perhaps they only eat until they're fully grown?) :0) Anyway... we've never seen a female Jem'Hadar. We're not even sure they exist. How can we replicate one? Rene on Friday, June 02, 2000 - 6:22 am:''Nope. Jem'Haddar women do not exist. Here's a quote from that great DS9 episode that featured the Iconian Gateway : "So, let me get this straight : No food, no sleep and no women. No wonder you're cranky." ''By Anonymous on Friday, June 02, 2000 - 2:14 pm:''Ever see Young Frankenstein? You know, the end, where Frankenstein ends up in bed with Madelyn Kahn? See where I'm going with this… ''XNZ on Saturday, June 03, 2000 - 4:35 am: Oh, I'm sure there's some photomanipulater somewhere on the web who's created a Fem'Hadar. brian on Thursday, January 18, 2001 - 6:04 pm: Since the Jem'Haddar don't have any women perhaps they are not err... equip for sex. After all the founders wanted them to be highly controllable and the best way to get a man to disregard his duty is with anything having to do with sex. # LUIGI NOVI on Sunday, July 15, 2001 - 10:54 pm: Not a nit, just a note: As Odo strolls through the upper level of the Promenade with the young Jem'Haddar, people in front of them cower and step aside when they see him. What I found interesting was that one of the "cowards" as a Starfleet officer in a gold uniform who ducks behind a bulkhead. Gee, I wonder if that brave officer was in security or engineering? And even if he’s an engineer, the Jem'Haddar’s a kid, he’s unarmed, and he’s with Odo! ' He’s not taking any chances!' # LUIGI NOVI on Monday, July 16, 2001 - 1:52 am: This sounded perfectly reasonable to me when I first saw this episode. But then again, I have the virture of being a total schmuck. At the end of the episode, as the Jem'Haddar escapes from the station, Sisko allows him to escape, and even allows Odo to take him to the Gamma Quadrant, telling Odo that he will tell Admiral Nechayev that was unable to capture the young warrior without killing him, which Sisko adds will have the virtue of being true. In a pig’s eye. All Sisko had to do was wait until Odo and the Jem'Haddar entered the airlock or the whatever ship was docked there, and then ordered Ops to beam the Jem'Haddar into a brig cell. Seniram For all we know, the Jem'Haddar may be able to escape enemy transporter beams, just like the super soldier did in the TNG episode The Hunted! # Thande on Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 12:30 pm: Why are the Constellation-class USS Hathaway and Stargazer in TNG considered old and obsolete, but the USS Constellation here (which must be the class ship, and thus older than either) is still being used - indeed used on a very important mission?! LUIGI NOVI on Thursday, January 15, 2004 - 7:37 pm: Not really. The original Constitution-class Constellation from The Doomsday Machine (TOS) was destroyed, so the class prototype was at least the second one with that name. Who says that one wasn't eventually decommissioned or destroyed, and the one in this episode is a third? Or fourth? The Star Trek Encyclopedia lists the ships as three separate ones with their own individual entries. Category:Episodes Category:Deep Space Nine